Helene Valerie Fruhwirth

This weekend I am in France. La bresse is the village called. The track was very different to the other ones but I liked it. I write in the past tense because I crashed in my qualification run. I didn’t get hurt but i think I gave to much. After a corner i jumped out and my back wheel slipped away and schwup di wup how i would say it I lied on the ground. And yes that was is basicly. I am out and have to watch today. I was already running this morning to get my mind free and to take it easy but hmmm easy to plan but not easy to do. But my next chance is coming soon. On thuesday I am going to andorra to race there 4x and downhill. So fingers crossed all will turn out like I want.

See you LENE

wc-nr-3.pdf

After the race I was driving in the night to Slovenia to Kranjsk Gora. Lisa from Alptrails was organizing a woman DH camp and she invited me as a pro rider to work with the girls on their jumping, dropping etc. skills. It was so good and I really enjoyed it. We stayed all together in a nice appartment. The girls were great and motivated to learn much. The weather was great too and the dh track was very various. From big jumps to small drops, from north shore to open gravel turns. I think everyone gained something from this weekend, so did I. For next year Lisa has big plans and in some of them I will be included. So girls get ready to ride with me. I am very patient and funny too…. Lisa and I were laughing non stop…

When I left sydney I had to run through a logistical masterwork…Chris lent me his Morewood NDIZA,

playing with the bike in chris office.
(the best 4 cross frame ever) to be able to compete at the 4x too-but he didn’t arrive in Canberra before thuersday night and the 4 cross training started at thuersday afternoon so I had to take the bike with me some how to Canberra. So stood up at 6:30 drove by bus/bus/train to Chris house (9:00) picked up the bike- rode back to a bike shop called BIKE ADDICTION (Thanks for your help too) packed up the bike in a bike box- walked back to Micks place- packed my stuff- draggled my heavy bag back to the bike shop- Luckly one of the guys gave me ride to the manly fairy station- this time I dragged a big bike box, my bag, my back bag- my helmet bag on the fairy- to the train station- to the office of Chris and Mick- back to the bus station….and it was 6 o’clock.. it took me the whole day… such a mission. But I made it and met Diana in the bus to Canberra.

There Clair Buchanan’s parents picked us up and I stayed with the local rider INDI (Julia Boer from Hungary), who moved to Australia in the name of love years ago.

We walked the track on Wednesday and had DH and 4x training on thursday. The track was so different to all tracks I have ever ridden in Europe. Very short and about 20 jumps, so dry that you felt like riding on ice- no grip at all. I was quite stressed to hit all the jumps until the race day. But i had a mental supporter who believed in me. Maybe more than I did and i hit all the jumps I planed… Great. The 4x training went well as well but I did a mistake in the qualification run so that I didn’t reach the finals. I was very disappointed and angry. I was sick of making mistakes when it counts so I didn’t care at all anymore about 4X. I even didn’t go to watch the finals the next day. Sunday was race day and wasn’t really happy or motivated. It started to rain and it was ice cold in the morning. I had bad final run and ended up on the 14th place. The place wasn’t too bad but I was still not satisfied with my performance. What should I say.. maybe the saison should end soon I am riding my bike since January, pretty much non stop and I am tired.

Indi injured herself bad and had to got to hospital. She crashed at one of the biggest jumps on the track and broke her radius. It was so displaced that she couldn’t get just a plaster…no she had to stay and had to get a metal plate and screws in to straight it back.. Poor Indi. So Brad (a friend of Indi) and I took care of her before we had to go back to Sydney. Me because my flight was on the 2nd and he had to work. It was a long flight- about 8 hours to singapor- 14 hours to Frankfurt- 1h to Vienna. I travelled nearly 2 days. I arrived on wednesday morning -unpacked my stuff- took a shower- a nap- and hopped on a train to Friedrichshafen, where the Eurobike is running at the moment…. It was a night train, but I didn’t sleep very well because of the jet lag…arrived in the morning… visited all my sponsors… and hopped back on the night train… and now I am finally at home.. first night for me since month I am sleeping in my own bed. YEAh I am happy.

Packing my bike again…

Diana and I walked down the track…

Bred and I at the airport

It’s done… To say it straight out. The four cross race went well and the downhill went unlucky.

All began on wednesday. I started to pack my stuff for the race one day before and in the morning my car was full up to the roof. 2 bikes, about 6 wheel sets, tires, three bags, 4 pair of shoes, bike wash stuff, a second fork, pump, massive tool box  etc… I am so surprised how I could survive with one bag (protection stuff and casual clothes), 4 tires and a little bag of spare parts, one wheel set when I travel overseas to race 3 world cups  or for about 2 month…It works too .. But for the home world cup I wanted to be as good as possible prepared so it took everything with me which i might can need and what has space in my car. So yeah  I arrive at 12 o clock and the stress started. register- track walking- four cross training and that all in a period about 5 hours. 4x Training went well I loved it. I jumped all jumps in my first run.

In the next the downhill training was o.k. I still did feel like racing and my motivation was on zero. My body felt good but my mind said no.

I reached the seminfinals in 4 cross and ended up on the 8th place which was very good for me. we were a starter field about 20 girls so I am stoked about the position. In downhill i managed to crash in my semi final run at the last section. I had to run for my bike and it cost me so much seconds. I ended up on the 21th position with just a 2 seconds gab between me and the 20th girl.  The first 20th girls are reaching the finals so yeah that sucks. bUt i am still happy about my 8th place in four cross.
see you LENE

after schladming I went home and got really sick. Temperature, head ache, cold in the night, ….i did miss anything. I think that’s how my body said STOP… so yes i have to take a break now… hear you soon LENE

Last friday (17.10.08) my sponsor Frontworx organised a downhill day with me for their business partners. The weather was great not too hot and no rain. Semmering bike park was choosen and the rental bikes were ready to be ridden by the brave businessmen. After a welcome breakfast everyone slipped into the knee pads, back protection, gloves and of course the helmet and so the action started. First of all I explained the important basics and then we all rode the family track. After everyone got confident with the bike- we dare to try one step further and rocked the freeride track. I had the feeling everyone enjoyed it much and this group was also very motivated to learn and try new things. No broken bones and no broken bikes….just happy faces. included my one…

Frontworx

Volker and I

Volker in action

Its getting colder and colder in Austria. I am already thinking about riding my snowboard soon and I am klicking throught the online shops to get a new snowboard pants. The fashion has changed a lot and the prices too. So expensive but also so nice too. hmm hard to choose. I haven ridden my snowboard since nearly 2 years. Last year I was in NZ and injured before I could jump on my board and last last year also injured. So i my plan is to make it this year. I have already planned a weekend with my friends. and I think i will see the bratislava Indoor BMX hall sooner than I want. My hometrack is still okay to ride, Just the early darkness sucks. Markus is working until 3 and at 4 its getting already dark so I cant train with him lots. Markus worked on his pumptrack a lot and it’s in a very good shape now. Good fun to ride and so we also ride with the floodlights.
I have a new trainer. Lukas is his name and helps me with all the condition I have to work so much on my endurance. What i am doing since end of september. Spending hours and hours on my hometrainer pedalling to nowhere. I dont like it but it has to be done …Maybe I would have been already to Paris who knows…I am nearly through all my neighbours DVDs and I don’t know how many tears have been rolling over my cheeks because greasy romances. Harry and Sally, Maybe or maybe not, little miss sunshine, holiday, barfuss, kein ohr hase…. and so many more. Apart from pedalling I am going out and have fun with my friends and my brother.
At the moment my ant’s dog Annabell stays at my place so I go for long walks with her like in the old days when my dog was alive. so yes thats it…

jep it’s boarding time. and so my friends and I went for a ride.at Kitzsteinhorn. A nice place to let the season begin. It was just for 2 days but it was worth it. The first morning was okay. It was very cold. I mean for me it was very cold… I had about 5 layers on… After lunch it was getting better and better and we had blue sky and sun. NICE NICE NICE..We spend few hours in the park but I was such a newbie. I wouldn’t say that I was ever a very good jumper at all but hmm 2 years away from boarding I forgot a lot of styles. In the evening I was so tired from all the riding that i felt a sleep about 8:30 and the others went out. I heard in the morning I didn’t miss anything so it was okay that I was boring person..who just wanted to sleep. We stood up early the next day because the weather forecast said fresh snow.. So good powder lines..And it was so. Blue sky again and fresh power. YEAH….Apart from one broken clavicula and 2 broken hand bones we stayed all in one piece…I wish seppi and stef a good recovery.

Kathi I and steff….my best friends

So now I have to go back on my bike. see you LENE

At the moment I am bussy. All the time I have to think about something. I am on the way to finish my second writing to finish the university. The first writing ended up with a 1. I hope the second will be also good. So yes that’s the main topic which is crossing my mind all the time. And of cause the fact that I am leaving soon. Just 13 days and I am on the way to New Zealand. I can’t await it to go.

This weekend I competed in Rotorua. It’s located in the North of the North Island. It’s the Queenstown of the north Island but more Maori culture and population. On the Rotorua homepage it is called a distinctive smell, in my words the whole city smells like millions of rotted eggs because of the geothermal heat. But apart from that which didn’t bother me anyway it’s a nice place. We (Hamish, Blair, Jeremy and what’s his name and I) stayed in a cabin located to a very nice lake.

It was a nice cabine for 5 people, we were a harmonic group and I was happy to stay with them. Thanks to Blair  for organizing the accomondation…

We arrived on thursday evening, did a XC ride through the rotorua bike paradise.  Which is just a paradise on a xc bike or a light freedride bike. I didn’t enjoy it that much on my downhill bike, rolling around in the flat. But it seems to be a high frequented xc bike area because the trails were hard like concrete and there are heaps of organize shuttles. On Friday we walked down the downhill track and it took us ages. When it didn’t rain the sun was burning down. So we were wet all the time.

So on Saturday were the official training day. I felt not good on my bike and didn’t find my rhythm…The shit was I kept on not finding my rhythm the whole weekend. So I don’t wanna explain to much now what happened or what not happened. I ended up last which sucks (4th place) but I can’t change it know. I am back in Wellington now and the weather was crap so I took a day of and can hopefully train tomorrow.

See you LENE

Aja yes Kai, got 5th I am so proud on him! Good work Fuff…

After the weekend I booked a flight up to Auckland and spend some easy last days in Wellington. I went for a last DH run with Hadley and for a xC ride with Chris. Said to everyone goodbye and packed my stuff the last time for this trip. So at the moment I am in Auckland at Kai’s place and waiting for my flight back home. Auckland- L.A.- London and then finally Vienna where my parents will waiting for me. Losts of people are waiting for me and I am very excited about seeing them all again.

To sum it up… I had a absolut great time here in New Zealand and wanna say also thank you too: Kai, James, Jordan, Dan, Donna, Leon, Chris, Hamish, Dave and Gail Judson, Byron, Rita, Cevin, Ben, Susanna, all the organiser who helped me out, my sponsors.

My smile for everybody who helped me.

Packing up my bike and hoping it doesn’t get lost